Year 11 Geography field trip to the Great Ocean Road

On Tuesday 28 August, Ms Amy Lee, Mr Ben Cooper, and the Year 11 Geography class travelled to the Great Ocean Road in order to complete fieldwork on tourism in the region. To prepare for this, we investigated the history and current state of tourism on the Great Ocean Road, developed a hypothesis to guide our fieldwork, and also practised our fieldwork skills.

Firstly, we visited Airey’s Inlet, famous for the Split Point Lighthouse (otherwise known as the lighthouse in the TV series ‘Round the Twist’). Here, we visited a range of viewpoints to understand why people visit this town, and made notes and observations on the impacts of tourism.

Once we were done there, we were back on the road and on our way to the gorgeous Teddy’s Lookout! We were very lucky with the weather and it was a clear spring day with minimal rain. At this site, we conducted visitor and vehicle tallies, took plenty of photos, and made notes on tourism management strategies. 

 

We then headed into the coastal town of Lorne, where students surveyed locals and tourists, conducted land use and amenities assessments, and completed an environmental bipolar analysis. This is also where we stopped for lunch – and fittingly, most of us ended up supporting a local fish and chip shop! Finally, we finished in Anglesea for the last of our data collection activities. With our fieldwork booklets full, and feet weary after plenty of walking, we headed back to St Albans, tired, but happy.

It was a great day out. A very big ‘Thank you’ goes to Mr Cooper for driving the bus, and to the students for their fantastic behaviour and being excellent representatives of the College.

 

Ms Amy Lee – Learning Specialist – Formative Assessment and Feedback / English and Humanities Teacher